bran mash additives?
i have a horse that has some joint problems, and has recently tore the lateral cartilage in his stifle. he’s really sore and depressed right now, and i have been giving him bran mashes about once to twice a week to perk him up and make him feel special. he tends to eat anything that i put in there, so i was wondering if there are any additives that i can put in to help with his pain.
i’m currently using:
half of his usual gran ration and that much bran
molasses and honey drizzled over the top
a tiny bit of peppermint extract
table salt to keep him drinking
powdered electrolytes
sliced carrots and apples
a few horse cookies on top =]
he is currently on MSM and glucosamine supplements, and on pain medication.
So me questions are:
-what kind of ingredients do you use in your mashes that may have different flavors for variety?
-are there any NATURAL ingredients that i can add to help with his pain?
wendy-
if my horse was otherwise healthy, i would be concerned with diabetes. but its only a matter of time now until we have to put him down. he has so many problems that there is no chance for recovery. we’re just concentrating on keeping him as pain-free and happy as possible until i can bear to let him go. he was the only horse that i’ve ever had a great connection with, so i am sure you can understand how hard this is. so please no attacks on me for being selfish. he is on the supplement daily. the vet has said that we should try anything possible to help him, and the reason that i want to go natural with this is so it wont interfere with his other meds. what i was actually looking for was an oil or something that was a natural pain releiver. ex. lavender oil for calming.
please no nasty comments; i cant really handle them right now.
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Tagged with: additives • bran • carrots • cartilage • flavors • glucosamine • glucosamine supplements • horse cookies • lavender oil • matter of time • meds • molasses • msm • nasty comments • natural ingredients • pain medication • pain releiver • peppermint • table salt • tiny bit
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When I make a bran mash, I use 1/2 Cup of corn oil and a 1/2 Cup of Apple Cider Vinegar. I also mix loose salt into the mixture. I use 1/2 a 3LB coffee can of red flakey wheat bran and about the same amount of water.
Couple things first-
Are you feeding your joint supplement daily? If not, then they are not going to help your horse at all or work effectively. Unless the supplement states to feed once or twice a week then of coarse you’re on track but I have yet to come across a supplement that is not daily. With out knowing the other ingredients of your joint supplement, I would guess that you have a basic joint support if that. If you want something that will help more or that is stronger you will want to find something that contains glucosamine, HA, and condroitin along with other key ingredients. I try to stay away from things that have MSM and condroitin because they compete with each other in the digestive tract and don’t end up helping much. For MSM to be in the correct molecular weight to be absorbed into the body it is EXTREMELY expensive so most manufactures don’t use it. They have MSM but its not the high grade digestible kind. So it basically goes in and right out. I like Adeptus products like nimble supreme and nimble mega. The supreme is a joint support that is highly palatable and works well on the horses who are using it. If you feed other supplements like hoof, coat, multi-vitamin then the mega is just that, an all in one so you dont have lots of buckets of stuff in your feed room.
-Table salt and electrolytes are going to do the same thing so why over do it with both? As with any supplement it needs to be in the correct form to be digested. The cheap stuff like apple dex or apple elete are basically sugar and salt. Acculytes and Persevere are excellent.
-Why do you want to add so much sugar to your horses feed?
Adding alot of sugar to the feed will cause a huge spike in his insulin and glucose level when he is digesting it. Diabetes ringing a bell? Yes horses can have diabetes. If he is not getting worked then all the sugar is just going to be converted into fat. I know you want to make him feel special but all the sugar really is not helpful to your horses health. I would cut out more sugar then add more. If you really want other ideas to rotate around, not all at once, you can add peanut butter, apple sauce, or cake frosting. Adding corn oil is pure fat and I would stay away from that since you dont want to put weight on a horse laid up and then have an obese horse too who is injured. All the extra weight will put un nessary strain on his joints which is not helpful for a horse with injury.
-As for adding more pain medication…not a good idea if he is already on a vet perscribed pain med. You dont want to overdose him, along with the insuline and glucose spike when he gets his treat. If you are looking to switch him to an all natural pain med you need to discuss that with your vet. You should ask him if giving something natural with interact with what he is on too. There is a natural pain reliever supplement called B-L Solution (Meaning ButeLess). It has devil claw and B-12 in it so its illegal to use at shows but if your horse is laid up for a while then its not going to matter. Just make sure he is off it for 30 days minimun to 90 days (best) before you compeate so it is completely out of his system.
Hope your horse feels better and recovers soon.